Recently, there have been some unpleasant images on the Internet of two cubs of polar bears chewing and eventually eating parts of a plastic bag. They once again demonstrate, if necessary, the devastating effects of plastic contamination on our planet.
The devastating scene was captured on camera by Jens Wikström from Gothenberg, Sweden. The 30-year-old man was leading an Arctic expedition when witnessed the heartbreaking sight in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway. While on his expedition boat, Jens has helplessly watched as the cubs chew the plastic bags for around 15 minutes. Eventually ending up in their bellies.
“Sights like this are devastating,” Wikström told Daily Mail. ” It’s no secret we have a lot of pollution, but I was processing in real-time what happens to our ecosystem when we don’t take care of our shit. It ends up in the bellies of these animals.”
Over the last few years, plastic pollution was one of the most damaging things to planet Earth, and unfortunately, it continues to be. However, what’s more outraging is that plastic is found more often even in the most remote places on Earth.
“On these remote islands of the Arctic, I’ve seen young curious bears and Arctic foxes eating the plastic pollution that often drifts ashore with the currents from the Arctic Ocean Northeast of Svalbard or with the Gulf Stream that come up from Europe,” Wikström also said.
Unfortunately, scenes like these are not singular, but more and more frequent over the last years!